Fuel-feeding device for carbureters.



P. P. GiLLES.

FUEL FEEDING DEVICE FOR CARBURETERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1917.

Patented Feb. 5, 1918.

- IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

WI TN ESS' PIERRE P. GILLES, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

W l v.

FUEL-FEEDING DEVICE FOR CARBURETERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 21, 1917. Serial No. 170,099. v. a v

'1 '0 all whom, it may concern:

Be it-known that I. PIERRE l. GILLES, born in Switzerland of German parentage. now believing myself to be a citizen of the Swiss Confederation, and having formally declared my intentions of becoming a citizen of the United States of America in conformance.

provement in fuel feeding devices for carburcters of the type disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 124,521, filed October 9, 1916.

The invention has for its object to provide in a fuel feeding device having a fuel supply chamber which is adapted to deliver fuel to carbureter and to receive fuel from a low level supply tank, and a float in the supply chamber, a valve mechanism to al ternately connect the chamber to suction means and to the atmosphere, together with means to operate the valve mechanism from the float to obtain a sharp opening and closing thereof in an improvedan'd advantageous manner, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

The invention is disclosed .in the accompanying drawin' s, in which Figure l is a ragmentary sectional elevation showing one embodiment of the invention in a fuel feeding device for a carbureter;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the line 2-2. of Fig.v 1;

Fig. 3 is a view taken similarly to Fig. 1 showing another and preferred embodiment v of the invention; and

'Fi 4 is a cross sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to these drawings in detail, A represents a suitable fuel supply chamber which is adaptedifor connection by a pipe 6 with a low level supply tank. Chamber A is adapted to su ply fuel to a suitable carbureter in any of the Ways now Well known in the art. A passage 0 connects the upper part of chamber A to the atmosphere, and

this air connection may be closed by a ball nately connect the chamber A with the suction passage 0 and with the atmosphere. and

the valves are adapted for simultaneous actuation from a floath in'chamber Abyimproved mechanism which will now be described.

Pivotally mounted at one end on a stud 10 is a lever 11 which is pivotally connected at its other end to the upper part of float h, whereby rise and fall of the float caused by varying levels of fuel in chamber A will turn the lever on its pivot. Integral with lever 11 is a portion 12 which extends upwardly above stud 10. Suitably fixed to the part 12 closely adjacent stud 10 is a flexible and resilient plate 13. which normally lies flat against portion 12 and in contiguous relation therewith. as shown in Fig. 2. The upper edge of part 12 is cut to form a 'cam 14 and the upper'edge 15 of plate 13- is curved from the stud 10- as acenter. A rod 16 depending from the valve member 9 rests upon both the surfaces 14 and 15. as shown in Fig. 2', and is held in the described engagement by gravity action.

.The member 9 is recessed to receive a slidable pin 17. the upper end of which is adapted to engage the ball valve d. The pin 17 has a slot 18 therein (Fig. 2) and a pin 19, fixed in the member g, passes transversely through slot 18. A coiled spring 20 is interposed between member 9 and the base of pin 17 in such a manner that the latter is normally extended with relation to member g to the extent permitted by pin 19 and slot 18. The upper travel of member 9 is limited by a suitable flange or collar 21 .formed thereon which is adapted to abut the upper wall of chamber A, as shown in .Fig. 1.

by the lower part of valve g. As fuelis fed llatented Feb. 5, 191118;.

laps the member 13. Further lowering of the float will move the plate 13 entirely out of supporting engagement with pin 16, and the latter, valve g, and pin 17'fall by gravity until arrested by engagement with cam 14. This vertical drop of member 9 brings the port f into such a position that suction passage 6 is connected to the float chamber and simultaneously ball valve 01 is allowed to drop to close off the air connection to chamber A. Thus fuel may be drawn into the latter through pipe I) by suction.

As the float it rises, the lever 11 is moved upwardly and members 12 and 13 swing toward the right. The pin 16 gradually rides up on cam 14: and, on continued movement of the latter, pin. 16 will engage the flat face 22 of plate 13. The pin, however, is of circular'cross section and does not squarely abut surface 22; Merely a small portion of the rounded pin strikes the surface 22, and this portion, on continued upward movement of the float, cams the plate 13 rearwardly, the plate being sufficiently flexible to permit this action. As pin 16 is lifted to cause the closing of the suction passage 6, the pin 17 does not immediately lift the ball d. The latter is held by suction to its seat and a relatively sharp kick or hammerlike action is desirable to effectively lift the ball, The ball being held to its seat, as described,

pin 17 is held stationary until the spring 20 has? been sufiiciently compressed by the upward movement of member 9. Then the pin 17, impelled by spring 20, imparts a sharp kick to the ball d, raising it from its seat into the position shown.

Where it is not necessary to impart a quick sharp kick to the air valve d, the

members 9 and 17 may be made in one piece, as shown in Fig. 3. Generally, however, asharp kick to the valve is desirable and when both valve actuating members are made in one piece, as in Fig. 3, I prefer to provide means for suddenly and sharply actuating them. One convenient and eflicient means for obtaining this result is illustrated in Fig. 3 andv will now be described. The lever 11 is loosely mounted as before on stud 10 and has an upstanding arm 25. A lever 26 is also loosely mounted intermediate. its ends on stud 10 and is arranged adjacent arm 25,

as shown in Fig. 1. The lower end of lever 26 is connected by a spring 27 to the upper end of arm 25. The upper part of lever 26 is formed with a cam surface 28, and the lower end of member g rides upon the cam 28.

Member. g, as shown in Fig, 4, is slotted to loosely fit over the member 26 with a forkface 28, an abutment 29 is provided to act in cooperation with member 9 as a stop to limit the movement of lever 26.

Assuming that the fuel level in chamber A has fallen to its lower limit, the parts are in the relative positions shown in Fig. 3, and suction passage 6 is connected to the chamber to draw fuel therein through pipe I). As float it gradually rises, the arm 25 swings toward the right, but lever 26 is not immediately moved for the arm 25 is loose on stud 10, and spring 27 holds lever 26 in abutment with left hand stop 29. When, however, lever 25 has moved toward the right to such an extent that spring 27 lies on the side of stud 10 opposite from that illustrated, the spring quickly and sharply moves lever 26 to the left, thereby raising member 9 by cam 28 and causing the suction passage 6 to be closed while the air valve (Z is lifted. As the fuel level falls in chamber A, the spring 27 is caused to cross to the opposite side of the stud 10 and suddenly swing lever 26 into the position illustrated causing member 9 to fall, whereby the air valve d is closed and suction passage e is connected to chamber A to again feed fuel therein.

It'is t0 be noted that with the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 3, which form is at present preferred, the member 17 may readily be arranged to lie at a distance from the ball (I when the member is in its lower position. By being thus positioned out of contact with the ball, the member 17 has a chance to acquire considerable momentum before it engages the ball on its upward stroke, whereby a hammerlike action is obtained to effectively lift the ball d and to readily overcome the pressure which holds the ball to its seat.

Heretofore, valve mechanisms of the character described have been employed and these mechanisms have'been actuated from the float in various ways, such, for example, as by direct lift of the float, by springs, which are compressed directly by the float, and by float actuated levers, which directly engage the valve mechanisms. As distinguished from the prior valve actuating means, the present invention utilizes a cam arrangement, which directly lifts the valve mechanism, and the float operated means, such as the lever, merely operates the cam. The valves are thus lifted indirectly rather than directly by the float operated means. An important advantage, incident to the interposition of the cam between the valve mechanisms and the float operated means is that the mechanisms may be operated with less power than when directly actuated by levers operated by the float. A more important advantage, however, is that the lift of the valve is made independent of the lift of the float. Thus, the float need move only a distance sufficient to swing the cam through the desired arc, while the slope of the cam may be varied to obtain any desired lift Within limits. For a constant lift of the float, the valve lift may be varied as desired by varying the slope of the cam. Particularly with the structure shown in Fig. 3, the movement of the float may be made very small, just sufficient to shift spring 27 from one side of. stud lO-to the other, but, although the fioat movement is small, the valve lift may be made relatively great, since it is obtained independently by the cam rather than directly from the float.

Thus, an improved actuating means for the valve mechanism of fuel feeding devices has been provided. It is recognized that modifications may be made in the structure herein described for illustrative purposes, and the scope of the invention is, therefore,

defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

What I claim is 1.111 a device of the class described, a-

resilient means between, the lever and the valve arranged to be slowly moved under gradual movement of the lever, all con structed and arranged so that the valve remains in closed position until said means have been moved sufficiently to suddenly open the valve.

2. In a device of the class described, a valve mechanism, a float by the rise and fall of which said valve is to be operated, a piv' oted lever connected to the float to be swung thereby, a earn, a valve actuating member supported on the cam, and resilient means connecting the cam and lever on one side of the lever pivot, all constructed and arranged so that rise and fall of the float shifts said means from one side .of the lever pivot to the other and suddenly moves the cam to open and close said valve.

3. In a fuel feeding device for carbureters, an inclosed fuel supply chamber, a float therein, a suction-and an atmosphere con nection to the chamber above the fuel level therein, means to simultaneously close the one and open the other connectionand to open the first and close the second connection, a cam mounted for swinging movement and arranged to support said means, a'lever connected to the float and arranged to be swung thereby on the axis of said cam, and resilient means connecting the lever and cam, said resilient means arranged to be shifted by the lever from one side of said axis to the other to suddenly swing the cam to move the first-named means in either direction. PIERRE P. GILLES. 

